Julie Rainbow joined The Village as the Senior Social Worker in 2023. In this position, she seeks to create a culturally sensitive infrastructure that supports the community by implementing therapeutic arts programming, increasing access to services, and addressing policy-related concerns at the local level.

Julie is a socially engaged artist with over twenty years of experience in social work. In addition to her work at The Village, she leads a cultural heritage project entitled Journey to Sanctuary: The Philadelphia Story of the Second Great Migration of African-Americans from the South and works as a grief therapist with Every Murder Is Real (EMIR). Julie has also worked as an adjunct professor at Lincoln and Drexel Universities.

She earned her MFA in socially engaged art at Moore College of Art and Design (2023), an MSS from Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work and Social Research, and a BA in Economics from Spelman College.

Julie is currently participating in the Faith Matters Network’s Wisdom Learning Journey cohort, which provides opportunities to develop leaders by integrating the head, heart, and spirit. In 2022, Julie became the inaugural artist-in-residence at the University of Pennsylvania: School of Medicine, Translational Research Immersion Program. She also serves on the African American Advisory Board of the Ebenezer Maxwell Historic Mansion.

In her free time, Julie enjoys most outdoor activities, painting, playing chess, and watching suspenseful movies.

Contact: julie@villagearts.org